


Snow Turns To Rain

by aneighthdomain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Childhood Friends, Divorce, Enthusiastic Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, High School Lovers, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, No cheating, POV Ben Solo, Past Relationship(s), Penis In Vagina Sex, Pining, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unsafe Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, but they talk about it first, divorce papers, rey signs them before they do the do, road hazards-snow/slush/rain, they were 18 though, unhappy marriage for rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:47:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aneighthdomain/pseuds/aneighthdomain
Summary: For a moment, he wanted to ask what she meant, but if he was being completely honest, he already knew.  He asked himself that same question over the years, and none more often than tonight, since seeing her again.  Wasleavingworth it?  Was going their separate ways worth leaving each other?“I’m not sure,” he said finally, shaking his head.  “I’m happy...” he said, and she tensed a little, so he continued, “with my work.  I’m glad I’m doing what I love, but....”“But?”“But it wasn’t the only thing I loved.”
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	Snow Turns To Rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thehobbem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehobbem/gifts).



> Normally, this is where I would be entirely myself, but we're supposed to be anonymous, and my notes would absolutely give me away, so I won't do the normal notes right now. I'll update them after the reveal.
> 
> Real quick CW: there is a point where they are drinking alcohol in the car, and they both drive after. They only have two beers each, and in my head, it's super weak beer, and it's been a while since they finished them. But I wanted to put that out there in case it might be a trigger. Also, there is an incredible amount of safe driving after in the descriptions.
> 
> And if this sounds like it might be based on a song, it is some. Just the basic elements. ^_^
> 
> Beyond that, I do hope you enjoy this fic.

“Peas...peas...where are the damn peas?” Ben grits his teeth as he searched, lamenting that his mother was Leia-fucking-Organa. If she wanted peas for a special welcome home dinner, she was by damned going to get them. Even if she sent her son, whom she hadn’t seen in years, and who also hated peas, out to get them. Fucking peas.

“Armitage, I told you. I went to the grocery store. We need stuff.”

Ben blinked a little, looking over his shoulder. There was just something so...dispassionate about the voice, so tired. It would have taken a harder heart not to feel sympathy for a voice like that. He thought for a moment it was someone he knew, something about the way the woman moved. The tilt of her head as she tossed her hair back over her shoulder and the way she stood from reaching down to pick up a tv dinner to put in the basket hanging off her arm. Ben just couldn’t place it.

But then she turned slightly, and even in profile, he could see the splash of freckles over her nose and cheek. Ben stared for a long moment, unable to believe she was still in this small town and that he just happened to be in the same grocery store at the same time as her.

"I'll be home when I'm done here, Armitage. We can talk then. Just…just let me have this time. Please."

Ben dropped the all but forgotten peas into the basket that hung off his arm and made his way to her, some impetus forcing his feet one step at a time toward her. She didn’t notice him as he came up to her, staring hard at a bag of broccoli as if it had smacked her for no reason. He touched her arm lightly, just to get her attention before he pulled his hand away.

For a moment, there was no recognition in her eyes, her lips pulled back in a feral snarl, probably to say something about his touching without permission. But then she stopped, her eyes narrowing as she looked at his face, and then her eyes went wide, and her brows shot up into her bangs. “B-Ben?”

Ben smiled at her and nodded. “Hey. It’s been a while.”

Rey gave a short laugh, covering her mouth as she gazed at him in delighted surprise. She opened her arms like she wanted to hug him, but her movements were so abrupt that her purse couldn’t keep up with her and it fell, random things falling and skittering just out of her reach. They looked at each other for a moment before they both exploded into laughter. Their doubling up to the ground having as much to do with their mirth as it did to pick everything up.

Rey was wiping away tears from the corner of her eyes as they both stood. As he handed her the last item, a tube of lipstick, he assumed it was from the fit of laughter they’d just experienced. He could feel the same prickling at the corners of his eyes, too. Ben took a deep breath as Rey bent down once more to pick up the broccoli at her feet and tossed it back into her basket.

Ben shoved his hands back into his pockets, his basket hanging off his arm awkwardly. He wanted so much to touch her again, but that wouldn’t be proper. It had been too long since high school. “So how are things?” he asked instead.

She blinked up at him like she hadn’t expected that he’d be interested in anything she had to say, but then she forced a smile. “Oh, great. Great! Things are good. For sure.”

Ben raised a brow because that was the least convincing thing he’d heard in a long time, and his acting career had started in high school. He opened his mouth to say something, but much like with his hands, he stopped short. It wasn’t his place to point out that her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Hey, come with me to check out and we’ll go get a drink or something after?” He looked into her sparkling eyes, seeing a hope that looked like it hadn’t been there in a while.

“Ah, yeah. Let’s do that,” he said, a little uncertain. Should he be okay with this?

Her smile had already been bright, but now, with her eyes crinkling in the corners and her smile turning into a toothy grin, how could he have ever thought to say no? Maybe he was just imagining that things seemed to be off with her. It had been so many years. Maybe he just didn’t know her anymore. That seemed more likely, actually. They were different people now. That’s what had separated them. They wanted different things.

They had both fallen silent by the time they reached the self checkout. All the feelings he had about her were overwhelming him, and he just couldn’t think of anything to say. He moved to bag her groceries for her and every time she glanced at him he felt his ears heat a little under his hair. How did things go from kind of exciting to awkward as hell in just a few moments? It was a blur of embarrassment to get from the checkout to her slick Lexus to put everything in the trunk.

“So,” she said as the trunk latched. “We’re still going for that drink?”

“Ah...yeah,” he said, nodding and looking down at his watch. “It’s late though...and a Sunday.”

He looked back up in time to see her staring at him and nibbling at her lower lip. “Shoot. That’s true. Well, we can look, right?”

Ben nibbled at his own lip, trying to figure out if she really wanted to spend time with him. When they lost contact, he thought she didn’t want to see him anymore, but she wasn’t acting like that now. “Ah, yeah. We can look. I got my rental over here,” he said, pointing in the general direction of where he parked. 

Rey huffed, smirking at him as she clicked a button on her keyfob, and the engine started. “Get in the car, Solo.”

Okay, Ben had to admit that impressed him. He chuckled, shooting a text to his mother that he would not be back tonight, and moved to the passenger seat, tossing the peas in the back seat. When he settled, she backed out of the space like the racecar driver she always was. That was something he’d forgotten, and he quickly searched for the ‘Ah, shit’ bar.

“Relax, Solo,” she said, the smirk still in her voice. “I still haven’t ever gotten into an accident.”

Ben snorted at the old joke. Yes, she drove like a crazy person, but she’d never gotten into an accident so clearly she was a safe driver. “Sure. That’s a relief,” he said, continuing the joke. “You forgot to put ‘yet’ in there. Stop tempting fate.”

Rey snickered as she pulled out into traffic from the parking lot.

The drive around downtown was disappointing. Sundays were the ‘family’ day in this town, and everything closed early. Things were getting awkward again, neither of them said anything other than the occasional ‘Is that?’ or ‘How about?’ But still, nothing was open. It was the flashing of a sign’s lights that got his attention for the solution, though.

“Why don’t we just go to the liquor store there and get a six-pack or something?” he asked, pointing through the windshield.

Rey tilted her head to look where he was pointing and nodded. “Perfect. Let’s do it!”

It didn’t take long. After parking, she told him in no uncertain terms that she was paying and, “no, stay in the car, Solo, I got this.”

Ben put up his hands in defeat, grinning at her. While she was inside, he tossed a twenty in her console. Once a six-pack of beer was acquired, Rey took them back to the grocery store parking lot. All the lights in the store were off, and only a few street lights in the parking lot lit the area in an amber glow.

Just as she shut off the engine, huge, flat flakes of snow began to fall. There was already snow on the ground, from the storm earlier in the day, but this was nice, quiet snow that just drifted down slowly, muffling all the sounds of the outside world. Ben reached back in the back seat where she’d put the beer and pulled it up front with them before he handed her one, and took one for himself.

“So, how are things, Sunshine?” Ben asked as he popped the tab.

Rey blinked and turned to him with her fingers still on her own popped tab. Ben looked back with the can to his lips before he swallowed. “What?”

Rey shook her head and snorted derisively. “Nothing. Just...no one has called me that in a long time.”

Ben furrowed his brow. “No one? But that was Poe’s nickname for you. He doesn’t even call you that anymore?”

Rey put the can to her lips for a drink before she dropped it down. “Ah, if we still talked, I’m sure he would.”

“If?”

Rey sighed and took another drink. “Yeah, we just kinda grew apart. The whole friend group did. I don’t know if Poe, Rose and Finn still hang out or not. I haven’t really seen them since I got married.”

“Oh,” he said brilliantly. Of course she was married. She was beautiful and kind and phenomenal, of course she was married. “Any reason why you all grew apart?”

Rey shrugged. “Just happened, I guess. My h-husband is an architect. Very high end, ultra-modern. There is a whole social scale I had to get used to and in doing that… just sort of lost touch.”

Ben lowered his eyes. That… didn’t sound like Rey at all. And did she hesitate when she talked about her husband? “I see. Well, that sort of thing happens, right?” 

Rey nodded, taking another drink from her beer as she stared out the windshield. “Yeah. Like us.”

Ben pinched his lips together and bit at the lower one. “Yeah. Well, there were circumstances.”

Rey sighed. “Yeah. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s fine,” Ben went on. “Things happened. We just… didn’t want to go to the same school, that sort of thing happens.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.”

The silence fell between them again. The only sound was the slight hiss of the snow as it landed on the hood of her car. Once more the silence became awkward. “So, tell me about your husband,” Ben said, groping around for any subject. “What’s he like?”

Rey stiffened just a bit, but relaxed so quickly, Ben thought he might have imagined it. “Yeah. Armitage is...uh, well, he’s an excellent architect. Really, really successful.”

Ben watched for her a moment. “Ah. Well, I’m glad he’s so successful? But what about him do you love though?”

He kept watching her, watching the way she wouldn’t look at him and the way she swallowed thickly. “I really love his work. It’s really beautiful.”

Well. It wasn’t a lie, he supposed. Rey hated lying. Her honesty was one of her besetting sins. She was  _ too _ honest. So, being that specific was… slightly alarming. “I see. Well, I’m glad he’s so talented?” What else was he supposed to say? “So… uh, are you working? You’ve graduated by now, right?”

Rey coughed a little, taking a long drink of her beer before she could answer. “Ah, no. I haven’t graduated yet. We needed to make money while Armitage was still in school full time, so I took a break to work while he did that. I’m going to go back soon, though.”

Ben raised a brow and looked around the car he was in. Something told him that  _ Armitage _ didn’t need her to be working now. So why hadn’t she gone back to school, yet? “I see. Well, then--”

“So how about you? I saw your most recent movie! You looked great!”

Ben blinked a few times, feeling a little whiplashed with the sudden topic change. “Ah, yeah. I guess. I mean, I’m not sure how I feel about people staring at my enormous nose on a gigantic screen and all, but, you know, it’s been pretty good.”

She looked over at him and gave him a genuine smile. “Your nose looks fine,” she said. “It’s not as bad as you think.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “So you say. I have eyes, though. My nose is enormous.”

Rey giggled. “You’re too hard on yourself. You didn’t see the twitter explosion when there was suddenly new content from you. I’ve never seen so many people suddenly have a parka kink. Oh, and the joggers a few days after that.”

“Oh my god,” Ben said, covering his face with his free hand, sniggering.

“There were girls all over the internet talking about getting their boyfriends and husbands joggers for ‘reasons.’”

Ben choked on his laugh a little as it got louder. “Oh, god, please stop!” He looked at her through his fingers at her to see her eyes cleared of the darkness that had seeped into them before she’d started teasing him, so he took it in stride. Anything to make her smile like that again.

“So what is Ireland like?”

Ben smirked and took another sip of his beer, only to realize the can was empty, so he grabbed another, checking with her to see if she needed another one, and she nodded. “Honestly, cold as fuck,” he said in reply to her question. “I was working the whole time, so I didn’t really get a chance to do any sightseeing if that’s what you’re asking, but damn was it cold. There’s a reason I was wearing a parka.”

Ben launched into stories about the antics on the set of his recently wrapped up movie. Nothing about the movie itself, of course. Non-disclosure agreements and all that, but with the antics of his co-actors and the aids, there were quite a lot of shenanigans that happened. Rey was in peals of laughter, holding her gut and she was only saved from being doubled over by the steering wheel.

Her eyes were so bright, even in the amber light, so warm, full of a happiness he hadn’t seen all night. He wanted to reach out and touched her face, or brush her fringe bangs out of her eyes. His eyes lowered to her lips for a moment before he averted his eyes.

“Ben?” she said softly.

Ben looked back at her slowly, only to see she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking out the windshield at the stone, staring so hard it was like she was staring into the past. “Was it worth it?”

For a moment, he wanted to ask what she meant, but if he was being completely honest, he already knew. He asked himself that same question over the years, and none more often than tonight, since seeing her again. Was  _ leaving _ worth it? Was going their separate ways worth leaving each other?

“I’m not sure,” he said finally, shaking his head. “I’m happy...” he said, and she tensed a little, so he continued, “with my work. I’m glad I’m doing what I love, but....”

As he spoke, she’d clutched her arms around her middle trying to nod, but looked more like she was rocking to comfort herself. When he ended the sentence so openly, though, she stopped and looked at him again. “But?”

Ben bit into his lower lip as he stared back at her, the hopeful light in her bright eyes mirroring a hope that warmed his chest. But the warmth went cold when he remembered she was married, and he looked away again. “But acting wasn’t the only thing I loved.”

“Oh,” she said, and the disappointment that he heard in her voice almost killed him. Because he’d used past tense for a reason. Because she was married now, and they couldn’t be anything more than friends. If they could even be that.

Rey sighed, but when she turned back to him, she was smiling. If it was a little sad, it at least wasn’t the dull, dispassionate thing it had been in the store. She asked him more questions about his life in the last several years. When Ben would try to steer the conversation back to her and her life, she would always just shake her head a little, give a tiny smile and change the subject. After a while, Ben stopped trying and let her take the conversation where it would go.

The last two beers stayed in the bag, completely forgotten after the first four were finished, though with their last sips, they ironically toasted to each other. But then, suddenly, it was midnight. Ben stared at the clock on the dashboard and shook his head a little. “Damn. It’s gotten late.”

Rey’s eyes turned toward the clock as well, and her eyes widened. “Oh, wow, yeah. We should...” She hesitated, scratching at the steering wheel with a nail. “We should probably head out then.”

Ben nodded, but they both sat there, neither moving, either for Ben to get out of the car or for Rey to kick him out. And then...there was warmth next to his hand. He looked down to see her hand, palm up, trembling slightly, waiting next to his. They could do this much, right?

Ben took her hand, squeezing it gently until the trembles stopped. Her fingers curled around the edges of his hand, and her thumb lightly grazed against his. They sat that way for so long, just watching the snow that had built up to enough to cover the edges of the windshield in layers of snow. With the surrounding silence, the muffling of the snow and the lateness of the hour, Ben could pretend that there wasn’t anything or anyone else in the world. He could pretend it was just the two of them in this car, forever, just holding hands.

Then Rey gave a little tug of her hand and Ben let go, and it was time to get out of the car. “I had fun tonight,” Ben said awkwardly.

Rey nodded, her lips pulled back into a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah, me, too.”

Without thinking, Ben leaned toward her, and lightly kissed her check. He hesitated there, realizing what he’d done, and how near he was to her lips. He pulled away a little, just enough so that if they turned their heads just the slightest, their lips would meet. He held there, transfixed, frozen in indecision. He wanted her so much....

And then the moment was gone, and he shook himself a little and pulled away. “I’ll take the cans and toss them,” he said briskly, trying not to stare at her flushed cheeks and the slight part of her lips that would be so easy to kiss, so easy to slide into the warmth of her mouth.

“Right, yeah. Thanks.” 

Ben nodded and opened the door.  The brisk air of the falling snow startled him, almost as if he had forgotten that the world outside the car, without her, lacked warmth. He stepped out, the snow creaking under his feet and with one last sad smile, he closed the door. Rey turned on the engine. He thought maybe he saw her wipe her eyes, but at this angle he couldn’t be sure. He heard her put the car in gear and stepped back, watching her pull out of the spot and begin heading out of the parking lot.

He watched the direction she went and saw that she didn't go far, just down the street a little and a left turn no more than a quarter of a mile into one of the million dollar home communities. Her husband must be very successful. Ben wished her well.

Ben winced as something cold and heavy hit the back of his neck and dripped down into his collar.  He looked up at the sky to find the snow had turned into a light sprinkling of rain. For one moment, he felt it. Felt that old pain from when they sat down and talked about their futures and realized they didn’t want the same things. The pain in his chest that he thought had faded away with time flared anew and ached. Because...didn’t they want the same thing now? Each other?

It was as if that one drop woke him up. What the hell was he thinking? He turned back, looking at the street she had turned down. No. Not this time.

Ben crunched through the snow that was quickly turning into slush and tossed the empty cans in the trash next to the cart return where he’d parked . He fumbled with his keys as he went to his car, sliding just a little before he was in the car again. It took just a few seconds to clear off his windshield, and then he was out of the parking lot.

He wanted to race to find her, but it wouldn’t help to get himself killed trying to follow her. He was turning on her street shortly, and he slowed down so he could look at each house. He knew what her car looked like, but it was a generic-looking black sedan. The Lexus should look like it wasn’t covered in as much snow as the rest of the cars on the street.

It was agony to go so slowly, looking at each and every car parked where he could see them. The rain was melting the snow though, and he was starting to see cars that looked like they could have just recently parked. He was running out of time and he was losing the little advantage he had in tracking her down. He thought about calling any of their old friends, but she said she didn’t talk to them anymore. Fuck, what was he going to do if he could not find her again?

He kept trying. He couldn’t give up. Not this time. He would not let her go this time. On and on he went slowly searching each house, each car, praying that it wasn’t one of the dark houses with cars that were probably in garages.

Startlingly, there was one house, just a few down from where he was now, that still had its lights on. Being so late, and surrounded by all the other houses that were dark, it stood out. As he neared it, he saw the front door open, then the lights go out. He stopped just as a dark figure moved around to the back of a black Lexus. When the trunk popped, Rey’s face was illuminated in the soft glow of the trunk light.

Ben slammed on his breaks, skidding a little in the slush. Rey turned to look behind her, even as Ben was pushing his door open and stepping out. Rey dropped the thing she’d been trying to load into the trunk, a suitcase, covering her mouth as she saw him. Ben strode toward her, his car door still open and forgotten, until he stepped onto the driveway and reached for her.

“I’m not letting you go this time,” he told her as he pulled her to him.

Rey threw her arms around him, clutching frantically at him. “I’m not letting you leave me again,” she whispered chokingly.

They held each other tightly, the warmth of their bodies just enough to counter the cold of the light rain for just a moment. Long enough that he tipped his head back and met her searching lips with his. They were so soft and so warm, and just as he thought, so easy to just slip into the warmth of her mouth, sliding his tongue slowly and gently against hers. Rey’s hands clutched convulsively at his shirt over his chest, and she gave a soft little moan.

Eventually, Ben finally pulled away, words of apology on his lips. “I’m sorry, I know you’re married, but I just can’t--”

Rey pressed her fingers to his lips. “I’m not married, not for much longer at least.”

Ben stared at her. “But...”

“He left divorce papers for me on the kitchen counter. I already signed them.”

“Thank god,” he breathed, and then he was kissing her again. It was more passionate this time, a little more messy. When he realized he was sliding his hands into her coat and trying to find the skin of her back under her shirt, he realized he needed to take her back to his hotel room.

Ben pulled away, smiling a little at her disappointed little mew. He took her hands and brought them up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “You want to come back to my hotel?” he asked quietly.

Rey reached back and slammed the trunk closed and grabbed her suitcase. “Let’s go.”

He drove them there as fast as he could, which was to say not fast at all, much to his frustration. She held his hand the whole time. And with the way the weather was going between snow and rain, he was glad she was not driving. It made the roads slick and so treacherous that he had to drive slowly, brake far away from lights, ease the gas as he sped up. It drove him crazy.

It wasn’t any better upon getting to the hotel. They lucked out that there weren't any paparazzi waiting for him that they’d have had to fight through to get to the entrance, but then, this was his hometown. They probably didn’t really care that much. But they  _ still _ had to walk carefully, now that everything was slush on the ground. Then they couldn’t rush into the hotel, lest they risk slipping on the tile. Ben didn’t dare do more than hold her hand in the elevator because he didn’t think he’d be able to stop. His keycard even gave him trouble and wouldn’t open the damn door for a moment, and he almost panicked.

But then the door opened, and they dashed into the room. Ben didn’t bother to turn on a light, just took her suitcase from her hand and pushed it into the space in front of the vanity, and then he was pushing her against the door. Rey met his mouth with hers eagerly, her hands already pushing his heavy, damp coat off his shoulders to land in a heap behind him. Carefully, they walked back, discarding shoes and clothes until they were on the bed.

The reflection of the streetlights on the snow coming in through the sheer curtains of the third-story window fell over Rey in a gentle glow. It had started snowing again, and little shadows of flakes fell. She just looked so beautiful. Slowly, Ben peeled her out of her underwear, sliding the bralette up and over her head so that she could toss it across the room. His hands slid into the waistband of her panties just as hers went to his boxer briefs. In moments, they were both fully undressed and Ben looked down at her eyes shining in the dark and her hair fanned out around her head like a halo.

“Ben,” she whispered, reaching for him.

He came to her willingly, bringing his mouth to hers again. He kissed her leisurely, letting his hands rove over her. He felt the prickles of gooseflesh over her skin as his fingers trailed across her ribs, and he smiled. As his hand came to cover her breast, her hands began to move over him. She traced the lines and planes of his chest and over his arms. One hand moved to the back of his neck as she pulled him in for a deeper kiss. The other slid down his abdomen and her fingertips traced patterns around his naval.

He uttered a soft sound of anticipation even as his fingers moved over the breast he had covered, gently kneading it before he focused on the nipple. The peak was already hard, brushing against his palm, and as he rubbed the pad of his finger gently over it, she whimpered softly in the back of her throat. His heart started thudding against his ribcage as her hand on his abs dove lower and she boldly took him in her hand. She stroked him firmly, running the pad of her thumb over the head of his cock even as he had done with his finger over her nipple, and he let out a sharp breath.

He could feel her spreading the precum over the glands and when she reached down between them with the other hand, he thought it would be to stroke him with both hands, but instead she slipped and slid her fingers through her wet folds before bringing them dripping to his cock and coated him with her own slick. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced, and suddenly, this slow moving of hands over each other was becoming less important. Still, he didn’t let her distract him too much.

He broke the kiss and bowed his back to move his mouth slowly and gently along the smooth skin of her jaw. He paused long enough near her ear to nibble on the lobe, which made her shutter again, before he moved on down her neck. As she stroked him again, this time in earnest, he brought his mouth down over her collarbone, her chest, and then finally to the breast opposite his hand. Just as he had with her earlobe, he nibbled and brushed his lips all around the soft, sensitive skin, even licking gently under the gentle curve of the underside.

She was squirming now, and her hand on his cock took on a new purpose, tightening her small hand around him and stroking faster. He moaned softly from her ministrations and as he’d just sucked her nipple past his lips, her moan of ecstasy echoed him. “Ben!” she whined. “Stop teasing me.”

A chuckle rolled out of him and she squirmed again as the vibrations stimulated the nipple in his mouth. She freed one of her hands from his cock and thrust her fingers into his hair, tugging and pushing as if she wasn’t sure what she wanted him to do but that he needed to do something else soon. With a last lick, he let the one nipple go and slowly kissed his way to the other. While he took that other nipple into his mouth, he moved a hand down her quivering stomach to slide his fingers through her folds much like she had before.

He dipped a finger inside of her, drawing out her arousal before swirling the same fingers around the bud of her clit. He pressed at it and rubbed tight, but gentle little circles into it. Rey’s back arched under him and she cried out loudly, panting out his name as he kept up the motion. She pulled the hand on his cock away, wrapping the arm around him and digging her fingers into his shoulders, even as the hand still in his hair gripped tightly. He looked up at her from her breast to see her brow furrowed and biting her lip as the pleasure rocketed through her, and even as he let her nipple slip from her mouth with a pop, she threw her head back, and cried out again. 

The way her body tightened and her thighs squeezed him, he wished he’d been inside of her as she’d come. As her body relaxed and the grip of her legs loosed, he moved the finger that had swirled around her clit down to her entrance and without hesitation, slid into her body. Rey gasped and her hand tightened on his arm as her hips undulated a little to take more of the length of his finger inside of her. Before long, he’d slid a second finger into her and as he thrust them into her, her hips moved rhythmically to meet them. 

He had it in his mind that he wanted to go down on her as well, and even began kissing his way down her belly, but she tugged on his hair still in her grip and stopped him from going further. “Please,” she murmured, her eyes dark, dilated so that nearly all the lightness of her eyes were indistinguishable from pupils. “Please, I can’t wait anymore. Ben, I need you inside of me.”

Slowly, Ben nodded, and he began kissing his way back up her body. By the time he was back at her lips, he’d thrust a third finger into her, his fingers moving, bending and stretching her gently. One of his fingers bent forward and just reached her g-spot, even as his thumb pressed those tight little circles into her clit again.

  
“Ben!” she nearly shrieked. One of her hands went to his wrist, though if it was to stop him or show him exactly where she wanted him, he wasn’t sure. Her nails dug into his skin as her back arched again, and her head rolled back. “Oh, please, please,” she begged as she writhed under him. “Fuck, fuck,  _ fuck!” _

At that moment, her body tightened again, and this time he could feel the pulsing and clenching of her muscles around his fingers and he couldn’t wait to make her do that around his cock. When her body went lax again, she dragged him to her mouth. “I told you to stop teasing me,” she muttered against his lips. “Please, Ben?”

Ben couldn't even spare the breath to chuckle at her eagerness. He’d felt the way her body had finally relaxed enough for her to take him with ease, and he was just as eager to be inside of her. He kissed her back messily, just for a moment before he pulled away to go search for his wallet.

Rey reached after him. “No, where are you going?”

Now he did chuckle, and he went back to kiss her gently. “I’m getting a condom, Sweetheart.”

Rey nibbled at her lower lip and kept trying to pull him back. “I...I haven’t been with anyone since you,” she murmured.

Ben furrowed his brow. “I...how?”

Rey kept nibbling at her lip for a moment. “Armitage is ace. We’ve never....”

“Oh,” Ben said with a little surprise. “But what about....”

“I still have my IUD, too. I...if you’re comfortable with it, I just want to feel you, like before.”

Ben looked down at her for a long moment before he nodded once and moved back against her. He pressed his mouth against hers, all at once, hot and needy as her. He lay himself against her body, his hips pushing her thighs wide apart, and he reached between them long enough to align himself with her entrance. Slowly, watching her face for any signs of discomfort, Ben began the slow, shallow thrusts into her body.

Rey tipped her head back again, just as she had before each time she’d experienced pleasure he’d given her to this point, and she clutched at him. Ben tried to be gentle, but she kept pulling at him, undulating against him, trying to take him deeper. They both groaned in satisfaction when he bottomed out. Rey was panting as she tightened her hold on him, her thighs around his waist, ankles locking at the small of his back. “Ben, please move. Please.”

He didn’t make her ask again. He was just as done with teasing as she was, and he drew out a few inches to slide back in again and they both moaned again. Slowly, he started a steady pace, a gentle, rocking thrust in and out of her body as he held himself up with a forearm. His free hand he used to gently brush his fingers over her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her lips parted as she panted, taking him so well.

“I love you,” he whispered, his voice breathy and halting with his movements.

He saw little crystalline tears form in the corners of her eyes as she gave him a tremulous smile. “I love you, too.”

He kept to that short pace, easing in and out of her, but it wasn’t long before he had to give in to the demands of his body, and from the quivering of her muscles around him, her body as well. He panted as his thrust went faster, the sound of their bodies joining echoing in the room. Rey’s moans and whimpers filled his ears, and the way her nails bit into his skin made him shivered. As his movements became erratic, Rey gasped and she shook suddenly. An instant later, her body clamped down hard on him. He thrust through the squeeze of her orgasm as she drew his out of him and he came. His body went taut, his hips locked until all he could do was grind into her and fill her with his spend.

For a long moment, they held each other in that tight grip, their bodies slowly releasing them, then they both went limp. Ben carefully shifted so that he wouldn’t crush her when he collapsed. Rey kept her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him close, fiercely, as if she thought he’d leave her again. Which was the farthest thing from the truth. He meant it when he said he would not let her go.

Ben was lulled into a half sleep before she spoke. “Ben?”

“Hmm?” he asked, turning his head toward her and cracking an eye open. She was looking at him earnestly, her eyes shadowed in the low light by her hair. Ben pushed it back behind her ear.

“We’re going to make it work this time, right?”

He gave her a soft, genuine smile. “Yeah, Sunshine,” he murmured, running his fingers reverently over her cheek. “Yeah, we’re going to make it work.”

  
  
  


*******

  
  
  


A whirlwind came through the front door just as Ben was sitting down with their lunch and putting on the TV. He looked up as the door slammed closed and Rey ran in with the mail. She had a large, stiff-looking envelope in one hand that she was waving around while the rest of the mail she tossed carelessly on the side table with the mail key. “Ben! Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!”

He laughed and grinned as her exuberance, and lifted the plate with his sandwich as she plopped onto the couch and into his lap. “Is that it?” he asked as he set his lunch down on top of the discarded mail.

“I think so!” she all but squealed. She pulled the tab on the end of the envelope and pulled, opening the thing in just a second and then pulled the edges apart to look between the cardboard. Ben looked around her head and saw that the envelope held a single sheet of paper. Rey dragged it out, and there in her hand was her degree. Emblazoned on it in filigree was her name, her education level and  _ Cum Laude. _

Ben wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pressing a kiss into the back of her neck. “I’m so proud of you, Sunshine.”

Rey giggled as his lips tickled her neck and she leaned sideways to look up at him. “Thank you, Ben.”

Ben shook his head and looked at her with a confused little smile. “For what?”

Gently, she laid her hand against his cheek. “For coming back for me.”

Ben’s smile turned brilliant as he grinned at her. “Of course, I came back for you. I couldn’t let you go again.”

Rey closed her eyes and pressed a very tiny, very sweet kiss against his lips, but Ben wasn’t content to leave it there. As he deepened the kiss, he took the degree and the envelope and set them on the coffee table. And then they just loved each other with heart and body, always knowing they would never be alone again.


End file.
